


In Tune

by Jijam



Category: SF9 (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Not K-Pop Idols, Businessman Jaeyoon, Dreamsharing, First Meetings, M/M, Music, Pianist Juho
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-06
Updated: 2020-04-06
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:40:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23517055
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jijam/pseuds/Jijam
Summary: Juho is haunted by a mysterious man that visits his dreams every night. A man that calls to him with a beautiful song.
Relationships: Baek Juho | Zuho/Lee Jaeyoon
Comments: 5
Kudos: 15





	In Tune

**Author's Note:**

  * For [baekjuhos](https://archiveofourown.org/users/baekjuhos/gifts).



> I wrote this in a sitting for a friend who just really wanted some Juyoon! Hope its not too weird~

It was foggy as he opened his eyes and found himself swept into an unknown world of distorted shapes and mist, almost as he was in a place suspended from reality itself. Seeing a light in the distance, he began to take cautious steps forward in an attempt to find his way out. The cool air of the night, or at least what seemed like night, kissed his skin with familiarity as he continued slowly, expectantly feeling colder with each step. He had taken this route many times now. Yes, Juho had been here before.

And as always, he heard it. It was sudden but echoed into Juho's ears with sweetness, filling the void in which he was in with much needed warmth and guidance. It was a beautifully rich voice singing an enchanting melody of invitation into the night and it was calling only to him. In desperation, Juho ran after it.

Juho reached out his hand as he could hear himself get closer to the alluring voice that grew louder yet never really seeing much other than the distant silhouette of a man that stood still too far away to take his hand. But the lingering bitter scent of coffee told him that he was getting close. Juho knew if only he could have a few minutes more, he could make it. He was almost there. But it quite never worked out that way. 

He could already feel himself beginning to feel lighter and a glance at his evaporating hand showed that he was already fading out of this world. Juho pushed himself to keep moving, hoping to at least make it a little bit closer this time. But he already knew it too well as his imminent failure drew near, Juho was out of time.

With a sudden jolt, Juho woke up. He observed the comforting surroundings of his room as he took in sharp breaths, feeling as if he had really been exerting himself moments ago. It was the small things like that which made his recurring dream seem far too real. As if it was more than just that.

The small agitated meows of a disturbed Huru at his side helped calm his nerves and the knot in his chest dissolved away. With an appreciative smile, Juho reached out to tenderly caress his little companion's ear. Not caring much for it, Huru quickly leapt off the bed and dashed out of the small crack of the unclosed door.

Juho was left alone in the silence of the room but not in thought. Ringing through his head was the soft humming voice from his dreams, sounding like a fading whisper. He couldn't let it die out. Not this time. 

Quickly, Juho released himself from the comfort of his blankets and rushed over to his beloved piano keyboard in the far corner of his tidy room. 

With a delicate touch, he strummed his fingers against the keys, letting them travel freely in search of the right notes. Juho hummed along, letting his memory help him in his journey. After a few attempts, Juho began to find the melody he had been looking for. It was starting to come to him now. He smiled brightly as he played bits of the song that echoed through his heart.

Cracks of sunlight filtered in through the window now, bringing along the sounds of morning. Juho looked over to his alarm clock. It was 6 am. He had been at it all night.

Still, he found himself now looking at those great white keys with dissatisfaction. No, it wasn't that he had failed to replicate the humming in his head. Juho was good at what he did of course. He had long since discovered the melody hours ago. That had been easy. But it had been the moment when he reached the end of his memory that Juho had begun to feel stuck. 

Always, Juho woke up far too early to hear the rest of the song. Never had he been able to hear it's end. And now, he couldn't even imagine one. It was like no song he heard before. A loud, unpleasant sound filled the room as Juho banged his hands down onto the keyboard in frustration. 

It was whatever now. Reluctantly, Juho stood up from his seat and began to fall into his morning routine. There were far too many things to get done that day before his gig later that night. Juho didn't have the time to just mess around. Either way, he would be behind the keys again soon enough. 

* * *

Juho was a pianist for hire. Or at the least, it was merely just a small side job as he tried to navigate through the woes of making it as a music composer on his own. It was only for the meantime. Just so he could make some money. _This is temporary._ He had been repeating that into his bathroom mirror too often lately. 

Tonight's gig brought Juho to a snazzy little bar in a part of the city he didn't frequent too often. He never felt like a place like this with it's high rise ceilings and it's high class clients would fit someone like him. There was too much glitz, too much glamour. It wasn't for him. Yet, money was money.

Fingers dancing across the keys of the proper grand piano before him, Juho took a moment to steal his eyes away from the sheet music he had been given that night and instead searched out into the crowd. He fought hard to keep his facial expression from falling. No one seemed to mind the pianist who was trying his best to give a beautiful performance. 

To these people of riches and grandeur with their fancy cocktail dresses and perfectly tailored suits, Juho was no one but a piece of the backdrop to their fancy date nights. He was only there to provide the background music to other's lives. There was no mind paid to him. No one seemed to stop and really listen.

Juho wanted nothing more than to one day have his music, _his own music_ , be listened to far and wide. Here he was with a crowd of people once more, and still he wasn't being heard. With his head hung low and eyes focused on the keys, Juho furrowed his brows and made a bold decision. As the current song he had been assigned to play came to its final crescendo, Juho decided that he would take the liberties of picking what song he would want to close his concerto with that night. Who would notice anyways? Maybe this way, Juho would finally grab someone's attention. Tonight, he would play one final song from his heart.

* * *

Jaeyoon grumbled as he tiredly made his way down the unfamiliar cityscape, hoping to quickly find his hotel already. After another night of being unable to sleep because of _that one dream_ he kept having, Jaeyoon had been depending on numerous cups of coffee to keep himself awake throughout his meetings that day. And after having chugged down 6 cups in total, yes he had been counting, his exhausted body told him that he could really go for a 7th right about now.

He mentally kicked himself for completely forgetting the directions of his room for the night. Jaeyoon was completely and utterly lost. Times like this, he found himself thinking of home and specifically his mother. 

Staring up into the twinkling city lights and wishing they were stars, Jaeyoon thought back to the times when he was a child. When he was young, reckless, and carefree enough to get himself lost while playing in the forest behind his family's humble little home. He would get lost but never for too long. Jaeyoon always had the soft singing of his mother, belting out a tune he never heard anywhere else to guide him back into her arms. 

Jaeyoon didn't know if it was just the nostalgia in his chest or the 6 cups of coffee finally coming back to seek their revenge, but suddenly, he heard it. The very tune he had just been thinking of. No it wasn't the voice of his mother. It sounded like it was being played on a piano. It was as if he had become enchanted by it. He just had to know where it was coming from.

A few steps away from him, a man was opening a door for his more than tipsy wife as they headed home for the night, unknowingly letting the sounds from inside the fancy bar escape into the outside. _There_. That's where it was coming from. Jaeyoon dashed over to the door as the couple left, catching the door just before it closed and slipped inside.

Still wearing his nicely tailored business suit, Jaeyoon easily blended in with the crowd, yet he still felt a bit uncomfortable to be in that kind of scene. He was a simple man of nature at heart. But all of those thoughts faded away as his wandering eyes landed on the man powerfully and passionately playing a glamorous grand piano under the glow of a spotlight. 

Standing there dumbfounded, Jaeyoon stared on as if he was under a spell. That was it. His mother's song. But how could that be? Jaeyoon wanted to swear he had never seen that pianist in his life; however, something about him just seemed so familiar but still foreign at the same time. _Who was he?_

The song came to an abrupt end in the middle causing Jaeyoon to be freed from its spell. He watched in confusion as a small round man appeared on stage, tugging the pianist away in frustration. Without thinking, Jaeyoon stepped forward to chase after them. He couldn't let this mysterious man get away. 

* * *

Juho huffed as he came to a stop, the bar was silent. Admittedly, it had been a gamble to play the song he had just last night put into notes, yet in that moment, it had felt so right. He had thought that maybe an ending would come to him during the heat of the moment, but once again, he was stuck near the end. 

With wavering expectations, Juho looked out into the crowd once more. His breath caught in his throat. Not it wasn't the unamused crowd that had snatched his attention, but the strong gaze of a tall, disheveled looking handsome man staring deeply at him. There was a sparkle in the man's wide eyes, brimming with emotion in stark contrast to the unphased chatter of the bar. There was a warm feeling of fulfillment in Juho's chest. Even if it was by just one person, he had been heard. 

With a sudden sharp pain in Juho's right arm, the magic was gone. Before he could process what was happening, Juho was abruptly being dragged away from the piano seat by the short little man that had hired him for the night. And he did not seem happy. 

"What was that? That was not what I paid for!" His employer questioned Juho with rage, a sharp finger jabbing into his chest. They were now in the back of the building, far from the curious ears of the bar patrons. There was no help for Juho here. "Listen to me. I run an esteemed business here not some charity house for bedroom composers to come play their trash work to my clients. They're here to hear the renown classics! Not your unknown garbage! You should feel grateful that you even have the privilege of playing here!" 

"I-" Hands balling into fists at his sides, Juho gritted his teeth as he struggled to keep himself composed. This stuck up, pompous little man had just insulted his livelihood. He couldn't last any second more in front of that bastard without things getting messy. With every fiber of his body, Juho willed himself to keep his cool. "Don't worry. I'll be leaving now."

"Good riddance. Get out of here!" The man yelled as Juho saw himself out through the back entrance, letting the door close behind him with a hard slam. 

Under the dim, yellow light of the lamp posts, Juho stomped away into the dark, gloomy night. He hated everyone and everything in that moment. Too lost in the sea of negative thoughts currently engulfing his brain, Juho didn't hear the sound of the bar's back door opening again, of the frantic footsteps now trailing behind him. 

But he definitely heard that smooth voice calling to him. Juho looked over his shoulder in curiosity. 

"Wait! Hold on!" A familiar looking man pleaded to him. It was the man from the bar. The one that had stopped to hear Juho's song. 

Under any other circumstances, Juho would have been absolutely ecstatic to speak to anyone that even remotely showed interest in his work. But being in the middle of such a sour mood, he realized just how much he really didn't want to talk to anyone. Juho simply turned back around and continued on his way, pretending as if he hadn't heard or seen anything. 

"I said please wait!" In desperation, Jaeyoon reached out his hand to Juho's, pulling him into a stop. 

Furious. Juho should have been furious for having his boundaries disrespected like this by a complete stranger. But it was the familiar smell of a distinct deep, rich roasted coffee that compelled him to stay put. One that he had smelled many times before but only in one place. Juho was star struck. There was something that just felt so right about this. 

Jaeyoon felt relieved. He had finally caught him. "That song you were playing. It sounded-- that was the special song my mom used to sing to me. I need to know, where did you even hear it?" 

Juho felt a chill run down his spine, goosebumps rising on his arms. This was right. He licked his dry lips as he answered with certain honesty. "In a dream. I heard it in a dream. I keep having the same one over and over again."

"A dream where you're lost and someone calls out to you with a song for you to find your way?" Jaeyoon continued without missing a beat. He knew this story all too well. 

Juho nodded, eyes shining with disbelief. "That's the one." 

Silence fell between them as they both tried to process the information that had been thrown their ways in such a short amount of time. 

"I'm Jaeyoon by the way." He introduced himself. It was the only thing he could think of to do during this situation. And also, he was just dying to know this man's name. 

"Juho. I'm Juho." 

Jaeyoon liked the sound of that name. Luckily, he didn't have to think again for what to say next. Juho had been dying to say something as well. 

"You know, I have never gotten to hear the rest of that song. I always wake up before I can reach....you." Juho knew it would be weird adding the last line, but it was right. It was happening. The man that he had spent countless nights chasing after, was finally right there in front of him. Juho had to take advantage of this moment. He couldn't let him escape. 

"Oh." Jaeyoon blinked then let out a chuckle as those words finally sank into his mind. There were a million things Juho could have asked him but this was where he started? This was definitely a person passionate about music. He liked that. The universe didn't make mistakes after all. "I would be glad to sing the rest for you but uh.. I'm not so sure if behind some back alleyway is the best place to do it." 

"My apartment isn't too far from here. It's only a few blocks away." There was no hesitation as Juho invited him over to his home. He simply pointed ahead as if this wasn't a complete stranger he was talking to. It just didn't feel like that. There was a sense of comfort in Jaeyoon's presence. It was as if a piece of a puzzle had just slotted into place for him. Juho had completely forgotten his gloomy mood from a minute ago. Now he just wanted to cherish the sudden companion that had been given to him. 

"Well, alright then." Jaeyoon smiled and gave a reassuring squeeze. "I'm already holding your hand, so just lead the way." 

And just like that, they walked away under the protection of the clear, night sky. Finally, side by side.

**Author's Note:**

> I didn't write this with any specific song in mind, so if anyone has a song this made them think of then let me know! Also just let me know if you enjoyed this! Feedback always helps! :)


End file.
